David Hayter talks Metal Gear Solid 5 and Kiefer Sutherland

The voice actor of Soild Snake and Big Boss, David Hayter, speaks about not reprising his role in the latest Metal Gear game.

Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear games, likes a good ruse. Most recently for the announcement of Metal Gear Solid V (MGSV) he initially put together a teaser trailer for a game under the name of ‘The Phantom Pain’, which was shown at the Spike Video Game Awards in December 2012. The Phantom Pain was said to be under development by a Swedish company called Moby Dick Studios. Many people were suspicious at the time, and speculated it was for the next Metal Gear game, but without any official announcement, there was always doubt.

Jump forward a few months to March 2013, and Kojima officially revealed that ‘The Phantom Pain' was indeed the next game in the series; Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain, with Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes a prologue to it.

So, bearing the above tomfoolery in mind, many fans believe that the replacement of the long-time Solid Snake/Big Boss voice actor (David Hayter) with Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, is yet another ruse on behalf of Kojima.

In an interview with David Hayter, Nerd Reactor asked him about the fact some fans believe he will indeed reprise his role in the upcoming game, despite Kiefer Sutherland being officially cast, and most notably if he has signed any NDA; “No, no. I never signed any NDA. When you’re not in a game, it’s very difficult for them to get you to sign anything pertaining to it. It’s disappointing that fans still believe I’m gonna be in it, because I think that reduces the pressure that should be put on Konami and Kojima to bring me back. So I’ll say it again, I’m not in the game. In any way.”

When asked about Sutherland’s performance, Hayter said, “I saw the promos, and I saw Kiefer in there. Otherwise I think he’s a great actor, and I’ve met him, and spent a little time with him. He’s a super nice guy and I respect him immensely. It just feels different from what we were doing before. But I’ve got nothing bad to say about the man. He’s a stellar Canadian. I respect him immensely.”

It wouldn’t surprise us if this was another Kojima prank, but the amount of time that’s passed and the flat-out denial from Hayter that he is in the game, we just don’t think he’s going to return. It’s an unfortunate thing, Hayter was the voice of one of gaming’s most beloved characters, but the series has taken a different direction now.